15 December 2011

Etihad Airways is set to become the largest operator of Boeing's fuel-efficient 787-9 Dreamliner after ordering 10 of the aircraft and two 777 freighters from the plane maker in a deal valued at US$2.8 billion (Dh10.28bn) at list prices. Carrying up to 300 passengers and over a range of 8,000 nautical miles, the 787-9, the longer version of the 787, will initially be used on routes to Dublin, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, Nagoya and Delhi.

Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH) expects to handle 12 million travellers this year and says 1 million passengers a month will become the norm. The increase was attributed to the arrival of airlines such as Cathay Pacific, V Australia, and Czech Airlines, along with increased frequencies and new destinations launched by existing carriers.

Mr Bennett (CEO of ADAC) said Etihad Airways had "continued to receive aircraft and add frequencies in certain markets".

Abu Dhabi Airports Company - ADAC last month announced work on the long-delayed Midfield Terminal (MTC) building would go ahead next year. The building is planned to be capable of handling up to 30 million passengers a year when it opens in 2017.

Emirates has included Italy in its expanding A380 network with the launch of a superjumbo service to Rome. The double-decker aircraft, bringing an additional 34 per cent capacity on the Dubai-Rome route or an extra 250 seats each day.

Economic uncertainty and flagging consumer confidence in Europe and the United States did little to curtail the continued growth in passenger numbers at Dubai International as traffic surged 7.3 per cent to 4.3 million passengers in October, according to the latest traffic statistics released on Monday by Dubai Airports.

October passenger numbers rose to 4,307,817, up 7.3 per cent compared to 4,013,127 recorded during the same month in 2010. Through the first ten months of the year passenger numbers totalled 41,855,561, an increase of 7.7 per cent over the corresponding period in 2010.

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Well... everybody asks me `what is the difference between Abu Dhabi and Dubai` when I go back to Istanbul, to visit my hometown. Above four articles can give you an angle, a look from aviation point of view to understand the difference.

One side is quantity, the other is quality. One side is mass, the other convenient. One side is full of surprises; the other is more steady and stable. Last but not least, Abu Dhabi is greener ;)

So what is the best way to do this? Start from the last row, in sectors/zones like many airline does or first window and then aisle seats? Rynair has the quickest turn-around time in the aviation industry as they board passengers from the rear door while off-loading the previous flight passengers from front door or v.v. as they don't have any pre-assigned seats.

At SunExpress we were using zone system and inviting the rear seats first, then mid and finally front. However, if you are in an airport with poor facilities, squeezed waiting lounge or had a delay, asking passengers to follow those instructions is very hard.

For legacy airlines, I think the block boarding is the best solution. I don't know which ones you have already experienced but at least now you know the reason of almost full overhead bins in your flight ;)

26 October 2011

Boeing's Dreamliner begins first commercial flight today, 26 October. The All Nippon Airlines (ANA) flight is carrying its first passengers from Tokyo to Hong Kong.

Despite the delay of 3 years, which is a quite long time for airlines, I am happy to see B787 is on air.

Personally I like to experience it as soon as possible. This aircraft is one of the two aircrafts planned for the future of aviation based on different strategies. A380 and B787 were the products of rival strategies. Then we learned about A350-1000 and B747-800 ;)